by Victoria McCombs
publisher’s synopsis
Marsella has the unique ability to steal secrets with one glance. She keeps her identity hidden, while going under the name Rogue Secreto. The emperor hires her to read secrets of his enemies, all without realizing this masked figure who can bring empires to heel is his beloved daughter.
He lures enemies to his doorstep by promising Marsella’s hand in marriage, while the Rogue Secreto uncovers their secrets.
But Marsella has another secret. A boy she’s found, trapped behind a wall of water deep within forgotten ruins. As she seeks respite from the demands of her father, she’s drawn to the ruins and to the boy. He becomes her escape, her most treasured secret, and she shares everything she hears with him. When Marsella gleans a secret about someone trapped behind water, she thinks she’s found how to set him free. But he’s been waiting a hundred years to be released, and thanks to the secrets Marsella has been feeding him, he has the chance.
Too late, Marsella learns why he was trapped in the first place.
Oops, just realized I never actually wrote my review. It’s been a while now since I read Rogue Secreto, so this review will be sparse
The magic systems of Marsella being able to read people’s secrets and the Fortune Coins were pretty fun. I will say though, the names of the Fortune Coins felt a little too medieval/English for a Roman-inspired setting. I also had a little bit of a struggle with the suspension of disbelief with all of Marsella’s sneaking around, and whether the daughter of the emperor would really be able to get awy with that much.
Overall, Rogue Secreto is a book with a unique premise, but it just didn’t quite click with me.
Cautions: light/moderate romance; one kiss; one scene where a character accepts unwanted advances while under the influence of magic; brief, non-graphic moderate/heavy violence; two instances of a swear word used for its original meaning; one instance of swearing
(I received an eARC from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)
Hailey Huntington 
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